NATIONAL  BEREAVEMENTS. 


A  DISCOURSE, 


DKLIVF.KEI)  IN   Tin; 


^ijrt|  Irtsbgteriaii  C|Hrc|, 


OF    CHICAGO, 


ON  THANKSGIVING  DAY,  NOV.  25,  1852, 


BY  THE 

Eey.  R.  H.  RICHARDSON,  Pastor. 


CHICAGO: 

PUBLISHED    BY    S.  O.  QRIOOS    &    CO. 


"DEMOruATIC  tress"  PRIXT,  CLARK  STREET. 

1852. 


Lp 


NATIONAL  BEREAVEMENTS. 


A  DISCOURSE, 


DELIVERED  IN  THE 


J^0rt|  Iprfsbgterian:  C^ttrc^, 


OF    CHICAGO, 


ON  THANKSGIVING  DAY,  NOV.  25,  185a 


BT  THE 

Eev.  E.  H.  RICHAEDSON,  Pastor. 


CHICAGO: 

PUBLISHED    BY    S.  C.  QRIGGS    &    CO. 


"democratic  press"  print,  CLARK  STREET. 

1852. 


CHICAGO,  November  26,  1852, 
Rev.  R.  H.  Richardson, 

Pastor  of  the  North  Presbyterian  Ohurch. 

Dear  Sir : — The  undersigned  believe  that  the  publication  of  the  sermon 
delivered  by  you  on  the  occasion  of  our  recent  annual  Thanksgiving,  in  ■which 
you  allude  so  appropriately  to  our  Nation's  bereavement,  in  the  loss  of  her  Web- 
ster and  her  Clay,  would  be  highly  satisfactory  to  those  who  had  the  pleasure  of 
hearing  it,  as  well  as  to  our  citizens  and  the  public  generally. 

"We  therefore  cordially  unite  in  requesting  a  copy  for  that  purpose. 

S.  C,  GRIGGS.  J.  B.  McCOR>nCK, 

R.  L.  WILSON,  JOHN  BOND, 

ROBERT  H.  MORRIS,  B.  S.  MORRIS. 

THOMAS  HOGE,  H.  N.  HEALD, 

WILLIAM  DUANE  WILSON,  ROBERT  HERVEY. 

H.  E.  SEEL  YE.  E.  L.  JANSEN, 

JOHN  A.  BROSS,  T.  W.  WADSWORTH. 


CHICAGO,  November  27,  1852. 
Gentlemen : 

One  who  attempts  to  render  a  tribute,  however  feeble,  to  departed  worth, 
is  secure  of  a  hearing,  because  of  the  subject  which  he  has  chosen.  To  this  fac 
I  attribute  your  interest  in  the  discourse  to  which  you  refer;  and  for  this  reason, 
I  submit  it  to  your  disposal ;  only  regretting  that  it  is  not  more  worthy  of  its 
theme,  and  of  your  favorable  opinion. 

Yours  respectfully  and  truly, 

R.  H.  RICHARDSON, 
To  Messrs.  S.  C,  Griggs,  J.  B.  McCormick,  J.  A.  Bross,  &c.  &c. 


DISCOURSE. 


For  behold,  the  Lofd,  the  Lord  of  hosts,  doth  take  away  from  Jerusalem  and 
from  Judah,  the  stay  and  the  staff;-  the  whole  stay  of  bread  and  the  whole  stay  of 
water ;  the  mighty  man,  and  the  man  of  war ;  the  judge,  and  the  prophet,  and 
the  prudent  and  the  ancient;  the  captain  of  fifty,  and  the  honorable  man,  and 
the  counsellor,  and  the  cunning  artificer,  and  the  eloquent  orator. 

Isaiah  III :  1-3. 

The  text  contains  the  prophecy  of  Judah's  affliction.  It  con- 
tains, in  part,  the  history  of  our  own  affliction,  since  we  last  met 
to  pay  our  annual  thank-offering  to  our  God.  The  Lord  hath  ta- 
ken away  from  us,  not  the  stay  and  staff  of  bodily  support :  for  the 
harvest  has  been  plenteous,  and  the  laborers  not  few.  But  He 
has  removed  the  stay  and  staff"  of  the  body  politic.  He  has  ta. 
ken  the  mighty,  the  judge,  and  the  prudent,  and  the  ancient,  ^and 
the  honorable  man,  and  the  counsellor,  and  the  eloquent  orator. 
If  to  remember  the  blessings  we  have  enjoyed,  is  the  object  of 
this  day's  appointment,  and  of  this  assembling  of  ourselves  to* 
gether;  then  I  can  think  of  no  more  fitting  occupation  for  the 
hour,  than  the  remembrance  of  those  honorable  men,  to  whose 
lives  and  labors,  more  than  to  those  of  any  other  who  have  lately 
lived  or  died,  we  are  indebted  for  our  national  peace  and  pros- 
perity. It  might  seem  that  lamentations  and  tears  were  more 
becoming  to  us  and  to  the  day,  than  praise  and  thanks-giving ; 
while  the  impressions  of  our  loss  are  so  fresh,  and  the  blood  is 
still  flowing  from  a  nation's  wounded  heart.  But,  that  they  have 
lived  is  the  matter  of  our  rejoicing;  and  that  they  still  live,  in 


6 


the  impress  they  have  left  upon  the  mind,  and  heart,  and  desti- 
ny, of  a  mighty  people.  They  are  dead  indeed,  but  only  dead  as 
great  men  can  only  die.  The  hand  has  forgotten  its  cunning ;  the 
eagle-eye  has  lost  its  lustre ;  the  bounding  heart  has  ceased  to 
beat;  the  voice  whose  tones  once  charmed  the  ears  of  listening 
senates,  and  a  listening  nation,  is  hushed ;  the  majestic  form  which 
once  moved  to  and  fro  amid  an  admiring  people,  will  be  seen  no 
more.  But  the  places  which  once  knew  them  shall  know  them 
forever.  The  last  words  of  him  who  was  the  last  to  leave  us, 
will  be  as  true  in  years  to  come,  as  when  spoken  amid  the  dis- 
solving of  his  earthly  tabernacle,  one  month  ago.  He  was  but 
uttering  the  perpetual  prophecy  of  his  own  Immortality,  when, 
from  the  very  borders  of  the  world  of  the  dead,  he  whispered 
back,  "  I  still  live."  And  we  are  at  once  reminded  of  his  own  lan- 
guage spoken  years  before,  when  he  pronounced  the  eulogy  of 
two  other  great  men  who  had  gone  down  hand  in  hand  to  the 
grave.  ''Adams  and  Jefferson,  I  have  said,  are  no  more.  As 
human  beings,  indeed,  they  are  no  more.  They  are  no  more,  as 
in  1776,  bold  and  fearless  advocates  of  independence ;  no  more, 
as  at  subsequent  periods,  the  head  of  the  government ;  no  more, 
as  we  have  recently  seen  them,  aged  and  venerable  objects  of  ad- 
miration and  regard.  They  are  dead.  But  how  little  is  there 
of  the  great  and  good,  which  can  die !  To  their  country  they 
yet  live,  and  live  forever.  They  live  in  all  that  perjoetuates  the 
remembrance  of  men  on  earth  ;  in  the  recorded  proofs  of  their 
own  great  actions  ;  in  the  offspring  of  their  intellects ;  in  the  deep 
engraved  lines  of  public  gratitude,  and  in  the  respect  and  hom- 
age of  mankind.  They  live  in  their  example,  and  they  live,  em- 
■ohatically,  and  will  live,  in  the  influence  which  their  lives  and 
efforts,  tlieir  principles  and  opinions,  now  exercise,  and  will  con- 
tinue to  exercise,  on  the  affairs  of  men,  not~  only  iu  their  own 
country,  but  throughout  the  civilized  world." 

Great  men  are  great  blessings,  rare  as  they  are  great.    To  a 


nation,  they  are  more  important  than  all  the  other  good  gifts, 
which  the  God  of  nations  can  bestow.  Talk  we  of  our  native 
equality  as  we  may ;  if  our  boast  were  true,  it  would  be  the  heavi- 
est curse  we  could  pronounce  upon  ourselves.  We  must  have 
'  mountain-men ;  men  who  tower  above  the  plain  of  ordinary 
humanity  ;  around  whose  heads  the  clouds  may  gather,  and  the 
lightnings  flash,  and  the  thunders  roll;  unharmed  themselves, 
while  yet|they  draw  away  the  bolts,  which  would  otherwise  deal 
death  and  devastation  to  all  beneath  them.  We  must  have  men 
to  lead,  to  guide,  to  control ;  to  sway  the  masses  by  the  might  of 
their  opinions  and  their  eloquence,  and  to  shield  them  by  the 
skill  and  strength  of  their  arms.  We  must  have  men  to  whom 
to  look,  in  the  hour  of  perplexity  and  alarm  ;  men  to  watch  the 
coming  Danger  from  afar,  to  warn  of  its  coming,  and  to  avert  it, 
or  show  the  methods  of  meeting  it,  undismayed.  We  must  have 
men  to  rule  us ;  not  merely  by  the  sceptre,  or  by  the  staff  of  of- 
fice which  we  ourselves  confer  upon  them ;  but  by  the  power 
which  God  has  not  given  to  all ;  the  power  of  a  large  heart,  and 
of  a  great  mind,  and  of  a  potent  tongue.  We  could  not,  if  we 
would,  and  we  would  not  if  we  could,  be  all  ahke  great,  or  all 
alike  small.  If  the  world  were  all  mountain,  the  people  could 
not  live ;  if  tlie  world  were  all  plain,  the  people  would  die. 

A  nation's  greatness,  therefore,  is  determined,  not  by  its  equali- 
ties, but  by  its  inequalities ;  and  its  prosperity  is  measured  by 
the  greatness  of  the  men  who  rule  its  destinies  and  order  its  af- 
fairs. And  among  the  men  of  this  nation,  to  whom  this  place  has 
been  assigned  by  Grod,  there  have  been  none  greater  than  Hen- 
ry Clay  and  Daniel  Webster. 

Have  they  not  a  place  among  the  three  most  honorable  and 
mighty  ?  I  speak  not  of  them  as  partizans,  but  as  patriots ;  as 
men  whose  services  were  no  more  limited  by  their  political  rela- 
tionships, than  their  fame  is  "hemmed  in  by  state  lines."  Caro- 
lina—  Kentucky  —  Massachusetts :    these  were  but  the  homes 


from  which  they  came  forth  to  bless  a  nation.  Federalist — Dem- 
ocrat —  Whig ;  these  are  but  family  names,  but  they  are  kin- 
dred and  confederate  all.  And  the  eye  so  blinded  by  the  mists  of 
party  prejudice,  ^s  not  to  see  the  greatness  of  any  and  of  all  these 
men,  deserves  not  to  look  again  upon  the  sun  in  his  glory. 

It  is  our  privilege  and  duty,  then,  to  remember  this  day,  with 
hearts  of  gratitude  and  voices  of  thanksgiving,  the  lives  and  ser- 
vices of  those  great  men,  whom  the  Lord  gave,  and  the  Lord  hath 
taken  away.  And  we  would  plant  the  laurel  and  the  willow, 
side  by  side,  above  their  newjy-made  graves ;  the  one,  the  em- 
blem of  a  nation's  tears;  the  other,  of  a  nation's  honor  and  undy- 
ing remembrance. 

But  there  is  another  reason  why  we  should  cherish,  with  pe- 
culiar love  and  veneration,  the  memories  of  these  two  men. — 
There  have  been  times  when  they  would  have  been  but  two  among 
many,  and  their  death  would  not  have  entailed  so  great  a  loss 
upon  the  people.  But  alas !  they  were  among  the  few  survivors 
of  a  generation  which  is  fast  passing  away,  and  like  which,  an- 
other generation  cometh  not.  America  has  had  her  share  of  no- 
table men ;  men  who  would  have  made  their  mark  in  any  age 
and  any  country.  Washington  and  Hamilton  and  Hancock; 
Adams  and  Jefferson  ;  Madison  and  Marshall,  and  Calhoun,  and 
Clay,  and  Webster.  There  remain  yet  but  two  or  three,  whose 
names  are  worthy  to  be  written,  even  after  these.  Have  we  pro- 
ven ourselves  unworthy  that  the  race  should  be  continued  ?  Are 
we  beginning  thus  to  feel  the  effects  of  the  oft-repeated  truth,  that 
Kepublics  are  ungrateful  ?  Is  it  because  we  have  refused  them 
the  places  to  which  they  were  entitled,  and  have  chosen  our 
Chief  Eulers  from  among  the  inferior  and  unknown,  or  those 
known  only  as  men  mighty  in  war  ? 

We  may  not  be  able,  perhaps,  to  trace  the  causes,  but  the  fact 
is  patent  to  the  eye  of  all.  The  visitor  to  the  Capitol,  as  he  en- 
ters that  chamber  where  once  sate,  in  solemn  and  dignified  coun- 


cil,  the  "grave  and  reverend  seigniors,"  of  tlie  imion;  sees,  at  a 
glance,  that  the  times  are  changed.  If  it  be  the  first  time  that  he 
has  stood  in  that  honorable  and  once  august  Presence,  he  comes 
out  thence,  himself  a  changed  man.  The  awe  and  veneration 
of  his  youth  are  ended.  The  halo  with  which  his  imagination 
had  invested  these  Elders  of  his  people,  has  faded  into  the  light 
of  common  day.  And  he  turns  away  both  a  sadder  and  a  wiser 
man,  to  muse  and  mourn  over  departed  greatness;  while  voices  all 
around  him  seem  echoing  the  question  of  his  spirit,  The  Fathers ! 
where  arc  thej'?  —  where  are  they?  If,  then,  blessings  brighten 
as  they  take  their  flight;  we  must  look  with  peculiar  emotion 
upon  this  disappearing  train  of  statesmen,  and  mourn  with  a  pe- 
culiar sorrow,  as,  one  by  one,  they  are  lost  to  sight,  and  rejoice 
with  a  peculiar  joy,  in  the  remembrance  of  their  lives  and  la- 
bors. And  in  view  of  the  departure  of  such  men,  and  the  con- 
trast which  they  present  with  those  who  take  their  places,  may 
I  not  add  to  my  text,  as  appropriate  to  the  occasion,  the  verse 
which  immediately  follows  those  which  I  have  read ;  "And  I  will 
give  children  to  be  their  princes,  and  babes  shall  rule  over  them." 

But  let  us  not  despond.  Perhaps  when  great  emergencies 
shall  come  again,  and  men's  hearts  shall  be  failing  them  for  fear, 
and  for  looking  after  those  things  which  are  coming  on  the  earth, 
then  there  maj^  be  found  those  equal  to  the  times,  and  the  Re- 
public may  renew  her  glory,  in  the  glorv  of  he]'  new  great  names. 
Circumstances,  if  they  do  not  make  the  men,  oftentimes  do  make 
them  mightier  than  they  seemed,  and  bring  them  out,  in  bold 
relief,  against  the  horizon  of  their  former  mediocrit}^ 

But  our  concern  to-day  is  with  the  Past,  not  with  the  Future  ; 
with  the  Dead,  and  not  Avith  the  Living. 

In  the  year  which  followed  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
amid  the  slashes  of  Hanover,  an  humble  minister  of  the  King  of 
Kings  was  father  to  a  son  of  nobler  name  than  any  of  that  royal 
house  after  which  his  birth-place  was  called.     In  the  year  which 

2 


10 


preceded  the  ackuowledgment  of  rbat  Independence  by  tlie  moth- 
er countr}-,  amid  the  granite  hills  of  New  Hampshire,  an  humble 
captain  of  the  Rev'olutionarj  army  received  into  his  arms  a  boy, 
Avhose  giant  soul  was  worthy  of  its  cradle  among  those  giant  hills. 
Those  were  eventful  years,  from  1777  to  1782  ;  but  in  nothing 
more  influential  upon  the  future  of  an  infant  nation,  than  in  giv- 
ing birth  to  these  two  infant  boj's,.  But  Nations  live,  Avhile  Men 
die.  And  now,  when  six  and  seventy  3'ears  have  scarcely  suf- 
ficed to  bring  the  country  to  its  manhood,  the  men  who  watched 
its  growth,  and  moulded  its  character,  and  shaped  its  destinies, 
have  passed  through  all  the  stages  of  their  earthly  history  ;  have 
been  gathered  to  their  Fathers,  and  have  seen  corruption. 

I  have  no  thought  of  tracing  the  career  of  either,  through  his 
many  years  of  public  service.  What  has  been  said  of  one  is  true 
of  both,  that  ''whoever  in  after  times  shall  write  the  history  of  the 
United  States  for  the  last  forty  years,  will  write  the  lives  of  these 
two  men  ;  and  whoever  writes  their  lives,  as  they  ought  to  be  writ- 
ten, Avill  write  the  history  of  the  Union,  from  the  time  they  took 
a  leading  part  in  its  concerns."  By  that  power  of  attraction  which 
draws  great  bodies  together,  they  met,  in  time,  at  a  central  point; 
the  one  coming  from  the  mighty  forests  of  "the  dark  and  bloodj^ 
oTound ;"  the  other  from  the  rock-bound  coasts  of  his  native  New 
En  "'land;  each  from  a  State  which  he  had  adopted,  and  which 
had  adopted  him,  and  of  which  he  was  the  ruling  spirit  while  he 
lived.  And  there,  in  the  capital  of  their  common  country,  with 
occasional  and  brief  interruptions,  they  were  laborers  together  in 
their  country's  cause. 

With  two  or  three  exceptions,  they  were  agreed  upon  the  great 
questions  of  public  policy,  which  have  come  before  the  congress 
and  the  nation ;  and  they  mingled  their  eloquent  voices  in  the 
advocacy  of  the  same  principles.  But  they  were  men,  who, 
whether  they  fought  with  their  party,  or  against  it,  or  irrespec- 
tive of  all  party  lines;  contended  always  for  what  they  deemed. 


11 


not  tlic  wclfiiru  ui"  one  purty,  class  or  section,  but  of  all.  Tlicy 
were  of  tlie  same  profession,  and  have  held  the  same  oIHces  un, 
der  State  and  National  Government,  and,  in  every  place  which 
they  occupied,  have  left  indelible  traces  of  their  presence  and 
their  agency  for  good.  In  the  halls  of  State  legislation  ;  in  the 
National  House  of  Representatives  ;  in  the  Senate  Chamber ;  as 
Secretaries  of  State  ;  as  expounders  and  defenders  of  the  Law  and 
Constitution  ;  at  the  bar  of  the  Supreme  and  subordinate  Courts  ; 
as  treaty  maimers  with  foreign  powers ;  they  put  forth  their  noblest 
energies  for  the  honor  and  prosperity  of  the  people. 

In  the  flush  of  their  early  manhood,  and  of  their  dawning 
fame,  when  a  second  war  with  England  was  found  needful  to 
rivet  and  secure  the  results  of  the  first ;  though  they  differed  in 
some  respects  as  to  its  original  propriety,  and  some  of  the  prin- 
ciples an  which  it  was  conducted,  yet  they  fought  and  toiled  to- 
gether for  its  prosecution,  until  the  nation's  rights  were  acknowl- 
edged. 

When  a  State,  presuming  upon  an  extreme  theory  of  her  own 
sovereignty,  ventured  to  lift  her  hands  against  the  laws  and  offi- 
cers of  the  general  Government,  they  united  in  their  efforts  to 
bring  her  to  a  state  of  submission  or  acquiescence,  peaceabl}^  if 
they  could ;  forcibly,  if  they  must. 

If,  in  the  forensic  contes-t  which  this  (question  excitedj  the 
noblest  champions  of  state  rights  found  their  ramparts  demol-- 
ished,  by  the  thunder  of  such  words  as  had  seldom  before  been 
heard,  within  tne  walls  of  any  Capitol ;  it  may  be  attributed,  in 
part  to  the  weakness  of  the  position  which  they  had  taken. 

With  respect  to  the  currency  and  the  general  commercial  pol- 
icy of  the  country,  they  were  found  for  the  last  four  and  twenty 
years  of  their  life,  not  only  with  each  other,  but  where  the  mighty 
South  Carolinian  at  first  stood,  and  other  eminent  men  of  the 
party  with  which  he  acted. 

AVhen,  but  recently,  the  fanaticism,   Avhich  is  found  as  well  m 


12 

Carolina  as  in  Massacliusetts ;  as  Avell  in  New  York  as  in  Missis- 
sippi; -vvould  Lave  rent  asunder  the  bonds  of  our  confederacy, 
again  we  find  tliem  side  by  side  in  valorous  efforts  to  avert  the 
impending  danger,  and  preserve  intact  the  laws  and  constitution 
of  the  country.  If  in  this  position  there  appeared  some  incon-  * 
sistency  on  the  part  of  one,  with  positions  taken  in  other  years. 
I  dare  not  attribute  it,  to  any  motives  of  selfish  interest  or  ambi- 
tion, without  far  better  jDroof  than  ever  has  been  given.  A  change 
of  opinion  is  no  evidence  of  a  loss  of  principle ;  and  it  was  the 
testimony  of  Calhoun  himself,  near  the  close  of  his  life ;  a  man 
whose  profoundness  of  judgment,  and,  sense  of  honor  and  integ- 
rity in  private  and  in  public,  are  unimpeachable  ;  that  "  there 
was  not  one  whose  political  course  had  been  more  strongly  marked 
by  a  strict  regard  to  truth  and  honor  than  Mr.  Webster's," 

When  Boston  therefore  refused  to  him,  on  his  return,  the  old 
Cradle  of  Liberty,  Avhich  had  been  so  often  rocked  before  by  the 
feet  of  thousands  moved  by  the  might  of  his  eloquence,  she  dis- 
honored herself  and  not  the  Statesman  who  had  incurred  her 
frown.  Difler  as  men  may  in  regard  to  the  right  or  wrong  of  the 
course  he  pursued  in  that  time  of  trial,  they  cannot  but  see  that 
it  required  great  moral  courage  in  him,  thus  to  brave  the  opin- 
ions and  the  feelings  of  his  State,  and  risk  his  character  and 
standing  and  influence  all  upon  it.  And  he  well  might  say  in 
his  defence  to  those  whom  he  represented,  "Had.I  loved  you 
less.  I  had  done  and  spoken  otherwise  than  I  have."  But  he 
lived  to  see  that  dishonor  done  away;  and  the  last  welcome 
which  he  met  in  Boston,  and  which  brought  the  tears  in  torrents 
down  that  old  man's  furrowed  cheek,  was  healing  to  his  woun- 
ded spirit ;  and  proved  to  him  that  Massachusetts  loved  him,  after 
all,  as  she  has  loved  no  other  man  beside.  And  Faneuil  Hall, 
still  echoing  with  the  weeping  of  the  multitudes,  and  with  the 
voices  of  those  who  spoke  the  nation's  sorrow,  in  its  sable  dra- 
pery stands  to-day,  mute  witness  of  Massachusetts'  and  the  na- 
tion's c'ricf. 


13 


If  wc  look  for  other  evidences  of  the  service  which  these  incii 
have  rendered  in  their  individual  capacities  and  stations,  we  find 
them  ''inwrought  into  the  annals  of  the  country"  for  the  last 
thirty  years.  To  one  we  owe  the  honorable  close  of  the  second 
war  with  England.  To  tlie  other,  the  arresting  of  a  third  war, 
which  was  ont  he  point  of  breaking  out.  We  find  such  evidences  in 
the  noble  stands  which  they  have  both  taken,  in  times  when  na- 
tional peace  and  honor  have  been  threatened.  We  find  them  in  the 
wise  administration  of  all  the  interests  with  which  they  w^cre 
entrusted.  We  find  them  in  their  ceaseless  efforts  to  promote 
state  amity  and  brotherhood.  We  find  them  in  their  many  la- 
bors to  develop  the  national  resources,  and  promote  the  natural 
well  being  in  all  its  departments.  We  find  them  in  their  never- 
failing  sympathy  with  the  suffering  and  struggling  citizens  of 
this  and  every  land.  In  Ireland,  in  Hungary,  in  South  Ameri- 
ca, and  in  Greece,  their  names  are  only  less  familiar  than  those 
of  Emmet,  Kossuth,  Bolivar  and  Marco  Botzaris.  This  sympa- 
thy was  none  the  less  sincere,  if  they  were  not  ready  to  espouse 
the  schemes  of  men  less  wise  and  far-seeing  than  themselves. 
We  find  them  in  the  records  of  their  speeches  delivered  on  gi-eat 
occasions,  and  in  the  traditions  of  many  which  have  found  no 
record. 

As  orators  they  have  had  few  equals  in  any  age,  and  they 
leave  none  behind  them  who  could  claim  this  place.  Each  was 
great,  though  different  from  the  other.  The  eloquence  of  one 
was  like  his  own  native  home ;  a  varied  scene  of  woodland,  hill 
and  dale,  of  sturdy  forests  and  verdant  meadows  j  of  oaks  and 
vines  and  violets,  and  flowing  brooks,  and  singing  birds  and 
whispering  breezes ;  charming,  fascinating,  insinuating ;  and  win- 
ning its  way  to  heart  and  judgment  by  a  thousand  gentle  arts 
and  graceful  passages  and  skilful  surprises.  The  eloquence  of 
the  other  was  also  like  the  home  from  which  he  came.  The 
thunder  which  dwelt  among  his  native  hills,  had  settled  upon 


u 


his  bfO'A",  a.  J  tUo  liglitnings  Hashed  from  beneath  it,  as  he  hud 
seen  them  in  his  boyhood  gleam  about  those  cloud-capped  hills. 
It  was  Titanic,  Colocsal,  Continental.  It  had  at  once  the  music 
iind  the  miglit  of  the  many  waters,  whose  voices  he  heard  when 
he  went  to  rest  from  toil,  amid  the  well-tilled  meadows  of  Marsh- 
field.  It  swept  every  thing  before  it.  It  was  like  a  tempest, 
with  occasional  lulls,  in  which  a  plaintive  sighing  is  heard  among 
the  trees;  and  anon,  the  crash  of  falling  forests.  And  this  too 
not  by  the  tricks  of  the  player,  or  the  force  af  wild  passion,  but 
by  the  calm,  majestic  power  of  great  Thought,,  robed  in  great 
Speech,  and  armed  with  ponderous  and  trenchant  Truth, 

I  do  not  feel  called  upon  to  speak  of  the  moral  greatness  or 
littleness  of  th^se  men,  because  the  occasion  does  not  demand  it. 
I  have  aimed  only  to  hint  at  some  of  the  reasons  why  their 
memories  should  be  cherished  on  this  day  of  thanksgiving.  For 
their  faults — and  faults  they  had — we  are  not  required  to  be 
grateful,  but  they  do  not  lessen  the  claim  upon  our  gratitude  for 
their  virtues,  their  lives,  their  services.  I  have  spoken  of  them 
neither  as  private  men  nor  as  party  men ;  but  as  public  men, 
national  men ;  to  whose  greatness  all  of  every  state^  and  creed, 
and  sect,  will  bear  witness.  We  are  grateful  that  they  have 
lived,  while  we  grieve  that  they    have   died. 

Alas !  that  this  should  be  the  closing  wail  of  all  the  eulogies  of  hu- 
man greatness.  I  have  said  ye  are  Gods,  but  ye  shall  die  like  men. 
Greater  than  all  is  Death.  He  leadeth  counsellors  away  spoiled, 
and  overthroweth  the  mighty.  He  removeth  ihe  speech  of  the 
trusty,  and  taketh  away  the  understanding  of  the  aged.  He 
taketh  away  the  heart  of  the  chief  of  the  ])eople  of  the  earth, 
and  causeth  them  to  wander  in  a  wilderness,  where  there  is  no 
way.  He  increaseth  the  nations,  and  destroyetli  them ;  he  en- 
largeth  the  nations  and  straiteneth  them  again.  He  poureth  con- 
tempt upon  princes,  and  weakeneth  the  strength  of  the  mighty. 
So  man  lieth  down  and  riseth  not,  till  the  heavens  be  no  more^ 
they  shall  not  awake^  nor  be  raised  out  of  their  sleep. 


1( 


Amid  the  peaceful  groves  of  Ashland,  where  so  many  of  my  boy- 
hood's hours  were  passed,  and  through  which  I  used  to  roam  as  a 
child,  beside  a  noble  stately  form,  a  great  multitude  is  gathered. 
Venerable  Senators  and  honored  Eepresentatives  of  the  nation, 
have  come  from  the  far-off  capitol.  Men  of  every  class,  condition, 
and  pursuit,  have  met  together  here.  The  plough  is  left  in  the 
field,  the  anvil  echoes  not  the  hammer's  stroke,  the  tables  o("  the 
money-changers  are  emptied,  the  marts  of  commerce  are  desert- 
ed, and  the  mourners  go  about  the  streets.  The  dwellings  of 
the  citizen,  the  courts  of  justice,  the  schools  of  learning,  the 
churches  of  the  good,  and  even  the  houses  of  the  wicked,  are 
robed  in  black,  and  left  untenanted.  Old  age  with  tottering  step, 
and  bright-eyed  childhood,  and  manhood  in  its  prime,  and  the 
mother  with  her  babe,  and  the  ma,iden  in  her  beauty,  all  mingle 
in  that  multitude  which  no  more  can  number.  The  velvet  turf  is 
turned  in  a  quiet,  secluded  spot,  and  the  earth  thrown  up ;  and 
around  that  spot  the  eager  thousands  gather,  with  hushed  breath 
and  tearful  eyes.  And  the  earth  is  thrown  back,  and  the  green 
turf  turned  again ;  and  the  toil-worn  Statesman  sleeps,  where  the 
wicked  cease  from  troubling,  and  the  wear}'  are  at  rest.  They 
will  raise  a  lofty  monument  above  that  sacred  spot.  They  need 
not  carve  an  epitaph  upon  it ;  they  need  not  even  inscribe  a  name. 
The  record  of  his  worth  is  written  in  his  country's  history^  and 
until  the  latest  generation,  sire  will  tell  to  son,  that  beneath  that 
marble  sleeps  Kentucky's  noblest  son — the  nation's  idol—  Henry 
Clay.     But 

Scarce  thi-ough  the  vaulted  caverns  of  the  West, 
Has  died  a  people's  tributary  sigh ; 
And  now  New  England's  granite-girdled  breast, 
Thrills  with  the  utterance  of  her  funeral  cry. 

•s-  -x-  *  *  * 

Death's  giant  shadow  thrown  among  the  stars, 
Upon  Jove's  broad,  refulgent  orb  is  bent ; 
It  passed  beyond  the  crimson  disc  of  Mars, 
To  quench  the  whitest  of  the  firmament. 
A  voice  is  mute,  whose  calm,  deliberate  word, 
Fell,  more  resistless  than  the  warrior's  sword.  . 


16 


He  died,  not  like  his  great  compatriot,  in  his  country's  Capitol, 
far  from  home ;  but  in  the  bosom  of  his  family,  and  in  the  spot 
where  he  had  loved  to  listen  to  the  lowing  of  the  kine,  and  to 
watch  the  waving  grain,  and  to  gaze  upon  the  sea  which  laved 
his  fertile  fields.  It  was  but  a  few  short  steps  from  the  chamber 
where  he  met  his  fate,  to  the  silent  tomb  in  which  they  left  him 
to  his  long  repose.  A  nation,  not  so  largely  represented  at  his 
burial,  yet  followed  his  noble  form,  in  spirit,  to  his  grave,  and 
mourned  for  him  as  one  mourneth  for  an  only  son.  When  Clay 
fell,  they  had  a  Webster  left,  but  "Webster  dead,  there  was  no 
Clay  to  die. 

And  they  will  build  a  monument  to  perpetuate  his  memory, 
too.  But  why  build  monuments  to  him?  They  are  already 
built,  from  the  boundaries  amid  the  vast  pine  forests  of  the  north, 
to  the  golden  gates  of  the  far-off  Pacific.  His  country's  Consti- 
tution, defended  so  bravely,  and  so  long  upheld  by  him,  is  his 
monument]  The  Union  of  these  States;  not  yet  "in  broken  and 
dishonored  fragments,"  not  yet  "  dissevered,  discordant,  belliger- 
ent,'' is  the  monument  alike  of  his  and  his  illustrious  rival's  fame. 
His  works  are  with  us  to  this  day,  monuments  of  his  imperial, 
massive  intellect,  which  will  live  with  the  language  in  which  they 
were  penned  and  spoken.  There  is  Plymouth  Eock,  once  bap- 
tised with  the  tears  of  bare-foot  Pilgrims,  and  re-baptised  with 
the  fire  of  his  eloquence,  who  was  the  Pilgrim's  noblest  son. 
There  is  Bunker  Hill's  tall  shaft,  scarce  less  the  monument  of  the 
brave  men  who  fell  on  that  hill  of  battle,  than  of  him  through 
whose  eflbrts,  principally,  it  was  raised,  and  who  commemorated 
its  completion  in  a  speech  which  will  outlast  the  granite  pile. 
No  !  he  needs  no  new  memorials  to  remind  the  coming  genera- 
tions of  him  whom  Massachusetts  loved  so  well,  and  a  world  so 
much  admired. 

It  is  fitting  for  me  now  in  conclusion  to  allude  in  brief  to 
ixnother  still  more  recent  fall;  not  for  its  own  sake  merely,  but 


17 

because,  as  1  believe,  so  closelj'  coimected  witli  the  two  already 
chronicled.  For  eight  and  twenty  years,  the  men  of  this  coun- 
try have  been  known  chiefly  under  two  great  party  names,  and 
for  eight  and  twenty  years,  two  men  were  the  pillars  on  which 
one  of  these  great  parties  rested.  "Wliat  then  more  natural, 
more  necessarv,  than  that  when  the  pillars  had  fallen,  the  build- 
ing should  dissolve  ?  Was  it  mere  coincidence  that  the  greatest 
defeat  known  in  the  history  of  political  warfare  in  this  country, 
should  tread  upon  the  heels  of  that  victory  which  the  last  Enemy 
had  won,  over  the  two  most  prominent  men  of  the  defeated  par- 
ty ?  And  was  it  mere  coincidence  that  only  in  Kentucky  and 
Massachusetts,  where  the  ashes  of  Clay  and  Webster  rest,  with 
their  bordering  States,  Vermont  and  Tennessee,  should  be  found 
a  people  who  still  cling  to  the  principles  and  policy  which  these 
men  had  upheld  ?  It  seems  to  me  there  is  more  than  mere  coin- 
cidence in  this,  and  that  the  Providence  which  ordered  such  a 
sequence  of  events,  designed  to  indicate  the  opening  of  a  new 
era  in  the  political  history  of  the  land. 

I  have  nothing  here  to  say  as  to  my  own  belief,  whether  that 
era  will  be  one  of  advance  or  retrogression  in  the  nation's  wel-' 
fare  ;  or  whether  this  defeat  should  be  numbered  among  the  oc- 
casions of  national  thanksgiving,  or  of  national  lamentation.  To 
many,  it  has  been  a  source  of  deep  and  heartfelt  sorrow ;  to  more 
a  matter  of  indifference,  and  to  most  a  matter  of  rejoicing.  Time 
and  Providence  will  bring  forth  the  foreordained  results.  But, 
recording  now,  willingly  or  unwillingly,  as  I  believe  the  final 
downfall  of  a  great  political  party,  you  will  all,  whether  sym- 
pathizing with  its  creed  or  not,  unite  with  me  in  a  parting  trib- 
ute to  its  last  Administration. 

I  am  but  saying  what  has  been  said  before,  by  men  of  differ- 
ent political  faith,  that  never  since  the  formation  of  the  govern- 
ment, has  there  been  an  Administration  more  entitled  to  the 
country's  admiration,  respect  and  gratitude.     That  very  much 

3 


18 

(Of  tliis  is  dae  to  liim  wlio  held  the  highest  office  in  the  Cabinet, 
and  from  whose  tomb  our  steps  have  just  been  turned,  none  can 
•deny.  But  let  us  not  withhold  the  meed  of  praise  which  belongs 
to  the  Heads  of  the  other  Departments,  and  especially  to  him 
whom  God  raised  to  the  highest  seat  of  honor  in  this  nation.  It 
was  an  apostolic  exhortation,  that  supplications,  prayers,  inter- 
cessions and  giving  of  thanks  be  made  for  all  men,  but  especially 
for  all  in  authority,  that  we  may  lead  a  quiet  and  peaceable  life 
in  all  godliness  and  honesty.  It  is  proper  occasion  of  thanks- 
giving, then,  that  under  th&- government  of  our  present  Chief 
Magistrate,  we  have  led  such  a  life,  to  so  good  an  extent.  Com- 
ing into  power  under  the  embarrassments  which  always  attend 
an  accidental  elevation  to  office — as  men  term  it — he  has  yet 
been  found  equal  to  every  emergency  in  which  he  has  been 
called  to  act.  Fixed  and  fearless  in  his  determination  that  the 
laws  should  be  obeyed,  he  has  tempered  the  rigor  of  their  execu- 
tion, with  all  the  leniency  and  prudence  which  sound  judgment 
could  have  dictated.  If  some  mad-cap  citizens  have  found  dis- 
honorable imprisonment  or  death,  on  foreign  shores,  they  met  a 
fate  of  which  they  were  forewarned,  and  from  which  the  Gov- 
ernment could  not,  and  should  not,  have  delivered  them.  If 
men  in  violation  of  all  law,  human  and  divine,  will  invade  their 
neighbor's  territory  and  rights,  or  intermeddle  with  that  which 
concerns  them  not,  they  can  but  expect  to  be  treated  accordingly  ; 
and  while  we  pity  their  folly,  and  mourn  over  its  consequences, 
we  may  not  interpose  to  stay  the  processes  of  Justice.  It  is  mat- 
ter of  congratulation  that  all  such  attempts  have  been  met  with 
the  frown  and  prompt  opposition  of  the  Executive. 

The  same  firmness  and  good  judgment  liave  been  exhibited  in 
every  other  department  of  national  interest.  The  Constitution 
and  the  Laws  have  been  upheld ;  treaties  with  other  governments 
have  been  fulfilled ;  the  national  honor  and  integrity  have  been 
vindicated ;  the  rights  of  all  the  states  and  of  all  classes  of  citi- 


19 

zens  have  been  respected ;  unexpected  exigencies  promptly  and 
wisely  met ;  new  enterjorizes  originated  and  old  ones  conducted 
•witli  skill  and  discretion.  On  land  and  sea,  at  home  and  abroad, 
the  country's  name  has  been  raised  in  the  estimation  of  mankind. 
Fidelity,  dignity,  propriety,  in  fine,  have  marked  the  whole 
course  of  government ;  and  unexampled  prosperity  —  in  good 
degree,  the  result  of  these  —  have  been  our  portion.  "  Honor  then 
to  whom  honor  is  due,"  and  thanksgiving  both  to  God  and  the 
Government  for  all  the  good  which  we  have  enjoyed.  Unknow- 
ing of  the  future,  we  should  be  grateful  for  the  past.  But  let 
that  future  bring  with  it  what  it  may,  our  trust  is  in  the  Lord^ 
who  made  the  Heavens  and  the  Earth ;  and  "Who  sitteth  King 
above  the  Nations,  working  all  things  according  to  the  counsel 
of  His  own  will. 

To  whom  the  King  eternal,  immortal  and  invisible,  the  only 
wise  Grod,  be  ascribed,  as  is  most  due,  all  might,  majesty,  domin- 
ion  and  glory,  world  without  end.     Amen. 


